"The NPA is pleased with the decision of the home secretary and it confirms our strong view that indeed he is extraditable.

"We put up a strong argument... and we've done everything in our power to ensure that he is extraditable, so it's confirmation of what the judge had found."

Abandoned car

Mrs Dewani, from Sweden, was shot after a cab the couple were travelling in was hijacked in the Gugulethu township last November.

Mr Dewani was released unharmed but Mrs Dewani's body was later found in the abandoned car.

Mziwamadoda Qwabe, 25, and Xolile Mngeni, 23, are charged with murder, kidnapping and robbery with aggravating circumstances and will go on trial at the Western Cape High Court at a date to be set next year.

Taxi driver Zola Tongo, 31, from Bothasig, Cape Town, has been sentenced to 18 years in jail for murder, kidnapping, robbery with aggravating circumstances and perverting the course of justice after agreeing a plea bargain.

In December, Tongo told Western Cape High Court he was offered 15,000 rand (£1,400) by Mr Dewani to kill his wife.